Saturday, February 12, 2011

How stinkin' cute are these?! And let me tell you how easy! Amy at Living Locurto has these FREE printables on her site. All you need is a printer, paper, scissors, tape, and a bunch of boxes of Brach's hearts (after testing 3 kinds, Sissy's fav is the Sassy (tart) ones!!!)

All you do is print, cut, tape. They fit perfectly over the boxes of hearts. Sissy wrote her name on hers and helped me cut some out. EASY! And so cute - I can't wait for their party on Monday! We made 20-something of these for the kids and some for teachers, too! (Who won't love 'em?)

Just 2 days until Valentine's day - hard to believe! You should also check out some of the yummy Vday ideas on Amy's blog like this super cute cake:

Saturday, February 5, 2011

Howdy from the Dallas area - home to Super Bowl XLV! Whew, I was just out running errands and thank GOODNESS, the ice/snow is finally melting. What a week.

But now... on to important things, like what ARE we gonna snack on tomorrow? In case you're looking for that perfect snack, I've got it for you. I have to warn you, it's not all that semi-homemade... but when my friend Erin passed it along, I knew I had to share. If you make this, I wanna see pics!

The Snackadium(courtesy of ABC News)

They say you can't move this, once you make it, so make it where you want to serve it!

Step 1: Fill the fieldFill the middle of the pan with guacamole to represent grass. Then line one end zone with salsa and the other with cheese dip.Step 2: Draw the yard linesDraw yard lines with sour cream. Use the pastry bag to draw straight, even lines.Step 3: Top sausages with cheeseUse toothpicks to secure cheese cubes to the tops of the Vienna sausages to represent players with helmets. Align the players with opposing colors on opposite sides of the field.Step 4: Fabricate goal postsCut the sausage sticks and fabricate goal posts using toothpicks to hold them together. Then lay a slice of Monterey Jack cheese in either end zone, securing the posts through the cheese and to the field with toothpicks.Step 5: Build the stadiumBuild the stadium. Line the edges of the field with a layer of snack cakes and secure strips of bacon to the tops of the cakes with toothpicks. Add another row of cakes and bacon 4 inches outside of the first and make it 3 layers high.Step 6: Add the fansFill the space between the stadium walls with different kinds and colors of chips or party mix to represent fans. Separate each kind of snack with a piece of bacon.Step 7: Hang the blimpFashion a 20-ounce summer sausage into a blimp and hang it over the field with a wire. After you have displayed your masterpiece go ahead and enjoy your tasty football treat.Recipe from howcast.com

What am I making? I have a huge bag of wheat dinner rolls that I'm turning into sliders, ham and cheese sandwiches (and possibly grilled cheese for the kids).

(Pic from Imperial Catering)

A couple of our go-to game day recipes (which are totally from my semi-homemade playbook):

Buffalo Chicken dip (a long time fav from my mom!)

(Photo from Frank's Red Hot)

Mix together:
8oz cream cheese
1/2 cup ranch dressing - or bleu cheese!
1/2 cup hot wing sauce (I use Frank's!)
chicken - I use a package of the already cooked chicken strips, but you can slice up chicken breasts you have, or a rotisserie chicken or even canned chicken

Then either heat in the microwave (stirring often) until hot OR bake 20 min at 350.
Serve with crackers, chips, celery sticks.

Bacon Wrapped Smokies (another one from Mom!)
This one is super simple!
Cut cheap bacon slices (cheaper because it's thinner and cooks better) into 1/3s.
Wrap around lil smokies and secure with a toothpick.
Place bacon smokies in a big cooking dish (lined with foil, so you don't have to clean this mess up!)
Sprinkle with brown sugar and bake at 325 for about 45 min.... or until the bacon is done and the brown sugar has carmelized. Yummy!

And check outAmy's ideas on Living Locurto (Amy is from mr. fix-it's hometown and now she lives in the same suburb where I work - small world! Naturally, she and mr. fix-it know ALL the same people back home and she's so sweet and creative!) The Antipasto Bake she has pictured looks AMAZING (and seems pretty semi-homemade, too!)

I'm not even gonna think about the depression that enters my household as the last football game of the year wraps up.... ;) Happy snacking!

Thursday, February 3, 2011

In honor of that upcoming holiday... and in no particular order... here are 14 things I love!

1. Sliced bananas with hot fudge. It's kinda a fake-out sundae. Of course, sometimes, I just say screw it... and add some frozen yogurt to it. (We'll see how that glucose test goes tmrw! LOL!)

2. Decorating! I have 3 bedrooms to start working on stat! But trying to finish unpacking first... and using decorating as my reward/motivation!

3. Getting 2 free drinks from Starbucks - one for my birthday and one 'cause I earned it by being a rewards member! (What? You haven't heard of that! Go to starbucks.com right now and sign up!) In a crazy turn of events, I also received a free Starbucks oatmeal. I'm in Bucks heaven... Sign uphere!

4. My big belly!

5. Castle. Yes, I know I've already told you. But I love it that much.

6. Spring in TX! Before long... it'll be bluebonnet time! (Thank goodness - the ground is covered in sleet today and I hate cold weather!)

7. Okay, this is almost contradicting #6, but... Snow/Ice days! We've been stuck in our house for 3 days now. And while most everyone I know is about to lose it, I am LOVING it. We're always on the go, never do much more than sleep at our house, it seems! And I never get enough time with my sweet kiddos and hubby. So I.am.LOVING.it. (Just not loving the drive in to the office that takes as long as the actual time the servers are up and productive there!) I've started getting used to big crashes coming from upstairs, followed by lots of giggling. They can't really hurt anything, so what's the problem? :)

8. Supportive girl friends! This year is going to be full of the sweetest blessings (a new baby, settling into a new home) and some of the biggest challenges (balancing being a momma to 3 with a demanding job that doesn't quit for anything). I thank God daily for some women that help support me, help lift me up, tell me I can do it (even when I have serious doubts). Don't know what I'd do without them!

9. Lists! If I don't have something on a list, it doesn't get done. Period.

10. Traveling! mr. fix-it and I are headed to a weekend away in San Antonio at the end of this month, to celebrate our 9th wedding anniversary (which isn't until April, but that's too close to the arrival of #3!) We don't have family close, so to get a weekend away and someone to watch the kids... it's a big deal!
Have recommendations for our trip to San Antonio? Let me know! mr. fix-it has never been there and we love American history, so we're going to have alot of fun at the Alamo (and then ALOT of relaxation!)

11. Surprises! My birthday was Monday and I worked late. I rushed home to have cake with the kids, but it was too late when I got there (I guess cake after 8pm is a little late for little ones!) Needless to say, the day hadn't been my favorite.
Enter my sweet hubby... he made sure the kids treated me like a queen before he put them in bed. In the kitchen, there were flowers and a card and a trip to the spa for a pedi - from the hubby and kids! When I went to our room to change out of work clothes, more flowers on my nightstand! With a sweet card from my hubby and a GC to Starbucks! When I headed to the bathroom (he knows this pg momma TOO well!), more flowers! Another card! Another gift card! He turned a crappy day into one of the sweetest ever. :)

12. Semi-Homemade Projects! IF I get home from work in time today... I'm going to start on the kids' semi-homemade valentines for their parties at school. I'm starting with the 32 boxes of conversation hearts I bought last weekend... ;)

And if you want to get your house ready for Valentine's Day... and if you're like me and have been meaning to jump on the Subway Art bandwagon... check out eighteen25's cute ones! They have it in 2 colorways!

13. This guy! I told you this was in no particular order! Or he'd be #1! :)

14. These kids!

What do y'all love? Maybe one day I'll do a linky blog and y'all can share these things with me! :) Stay warm, friends!!

About Me

I'm Elaine - just your average mom with 3!! sweet kids and an amazing husband... who works full time but still wants to be the creative, crafty mom who pulls off the best birthday parties, coolest class projects, and bakes cupcakes for school. Only I can't commute to my demanding job, run the house and family, and do all these things, so I fake it - a little creativity can go a long way. That's why we live a Semi Homemade Life...